The present disclosure generally relates to a high-flow enteral feeding syringe assembly. In a medical environment, many devices have tubing or other fluid conduits adapted for manual connection in order to provide a fluid connection between devices or between a device and a patient including enteral feeding pumps and enteral feeding lines. For example, enteral feeding or delivery of medicines to the gastrointestinal tract may be accomplished by connecting an enteral feeding connector to an oral syringe. Some patients, such as home healthcare patients, desire nutritional fluid that is relatively thick. For instance, patients may desire the delivery of blended fruits, vegetables, and other foods via enteral feeding.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional enteral feeding connector assembly including a male enteral feeding connector 1 and a female enteral feeding connector 3, included as part of a syringe barrel, configured to be connected to one another for use in connecting the syringe barrel to medical tubing 5. The female enteral feeding connector 3 receives a male connector portion 7 of the male enteral feeding connector 1 within an interior space 9 of the female connector. An exterior surface of the male connector portion 7 engages and seals with an interior surface of the female enteral feeding connector 3 to achieve a fluid-tight connection placing an interior of the syringe barrel in fluid communication with a passage in the medical tubing 5. Fluid is typically delivered from the female connector 3 to the male connector 1. A barrel outlet 11 is located adjacent an inlet 13 of the male enteral feeding connector 1 and communicates with a flow passage 15 in the male connector. The barrel outlet 11 and connector inlet 13 are sized and arranged to comply with ISO standards 80369-3 (proposed) and 80369-20 to prevent misconnection of the connectors 3, 1 with unauthorized connectors. An example of an unauthorized connector is an IV tube or IV connector. However, to achieve this purpose, the barrel outlet 11 has a reduced diameter section 17 that can choke fluid flow exiting the syringe barrel. Additionally, the inlet 13 and diameter of the flow passage 15 in the male connector 1 may also choke fluid flow into and through the enteral feeding connector assembly.